Asset (intelligence)

In intelligence, assets are persons within organizations or countries that are being spied upon who provide information for an outside spy.

There are different categories of assets, including people

• that willingly work for a foreign government for ideological reasons such as being against their government, but live in a country that doesn't allow political opposition. They may elect to work with a foreign power to change their own country because there are few other ways available.
• that work for monetary gain. Intelligence services often pay good wages to people in important positions that are willing to betray secrets.
• that have been blackmailed and are forced into their role.
• that do not even know they are being used. Assets can be loyal to their country, but may still provide a foreign agent with information through failures in information safety such as using insecure computers or not following proper OPSEC procedures during day-to-day chatting.

See also

• Vetting